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President Bush wants corporations to behave more
responsibly, and he says corporate crooks ought to lose their lucre and
spend time behind bars for their misdeeds. That makes lots of sense, and
nobody's going to complain about the proposed diagnosis or cure.

But most
analysts miss the real genius of the president's crusade -- its seamless
integration of politics and morality. You see business is a social venture,
and as such, it relies heavily on trust. Accurate information is the
lifeblood of capitalism. When lies pollute the system, everything -- and
everyone -- suffers. In fact, corruption is even more fatal in the
marketplace than in the political arena.

That's why there's only one way for
corporations to rebuild public faith, and it's not government regulation.
Businesses themselves must clean their messes -- and in such a public and
open manner that no one can doubt their methods or motives. Politicians may
want to control the action, but they can't.

I don't know what's got into Al Gore. The former
vice president told backers and financiers that he was ready to unleash the
Real Al -- not some mannequin managed and manipulated by pollsters and
consultants.

But then the man delivered one of the oddest speeches of his
career. He was stiff, uncomfortable and insanely tone deaf. He accused
President Bush of using the war on terror to divide the nation -- a dumb
criticism to make of a commander in chief who has taken great pains to
operate on a bipartisan basis. He complained that the Bush administration
had failed to wrap up Osama bin Laden -- a man who also slipped through the
clutches of Team Clinton.

And he concluded by arguing that our European
allies ought to have a stronger say, if not a veto, in our war plans. By the
time he finished, even some of Gore's old friends were saying: We're sure
glad that guy lost the Florida recount.